Dhaos (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
whatdeheckisdat) wrote2011-03-02 06:35 pm
whatdeheckisdat) wrote2011-03-02 06:35 pm
Entry tags:
Abilities and TL;DR Character Info Survey
Because what the heck, they change every fight thread. Sort of in progress-- you can get a general idea of how Dhaos' abilities work here, but I know I'm missing things. Feel free to point out mistakes or make suggestions! Also, see Angie's comments at the bottom for a more informed opinion.
Physical
Dhaos is a seraph, and thus stronger than he looks-- stronger than any human would be, at any rate. He also seems to know some form of martial arts, as his physical attacks have some form to them. Even without his magic, Dhaos is not the guy you want to pick a fight with, as he can and will break bones if he has to.
Dhaos has some sort of resistance to physical attack that makes him invulnerable to anything that isn't magic. Er. To keep this from being ridiculous, he has to be conscious and paying attention for this to work. Also, he, uh, is spoken of as possibly being able to survive a direct blast from the Mana Cannon. Obviously not without serious injury, but it's clear he can take quite the beating before going down.
But Luceti, of course, has this nasty tendency to go OKAY LOL YOU'RE HUMAN NOW. Nothing can take away the knowledge of how to fight, but in these situations Dhaos' main asset would be speed. He's in shape, but not particularly muscular, and while probably strong of his own accord, he'd just as probably be screwed if outnumbered.
Magic
Now this is where things start getting fuzzy. Tales of Phantasia was released in 1995, and as villain from a game released in 1995 who has a grand total of five scenes, Dhaos' powers are extremely ambiguous. Let's start with what we know he can do:
-He can float, like most evil sorcerers in videogames.
-He can teleport, and does so when he meets the party at the Yggdrasil in the future. ...Or, uh, he does so to leave.
-He can use a form of mind control, which can be cast through walls (or at least, coffin walls) and while he's sealed.
--->This is actually not mind control, but Dhaos choosing a trait that already exists and amplifying it: he used Mars' greed to manipulate him into searching for a way to release an allegedly crazy demon king, and he used Demeter's budding resentment over being unappreciated due to being a half-elf to get him to kill the Scarlett couple. It's extremely unreliable and tends to end in destruction everywhere, which is why he had Jamir keeping watch over Prince Laird/Leaird/insert name of choice here.
-He also has the mana-sensing abilities of the elves/demons/angels, as per Aseliaverse tradition. Things like species and the mana level and such.
-Time magic. Will discuss this later.
And now for the uncertain stuff!
-Exactly how resistant to physical attack he is. In the game, obviously he has to be defeatable, but in the Drama CDs, Cress can't hurt him even when he lands a hit with the Eternal Sword: it takes the Valkyrie turning up with Gungnir for him to start getting any results.
-His seraph wings. We don't know if Dhaos has always had them, or if he only gained them in the final boss fight after screaming to the gods of Derris-Kharlan for help. He is capable of summoning his wings at will in NDX, however, after his death.
-There's a skit in NDX detailing how hard you have to try to get Dhaos to eat, and he spends literally decades traveling without any visible effect on his appearance, but we have no idea how many of the 'seraphic' characteristics he actually has. ...And we don't even really know if he's a seraph (the people of Derris-Kharlan don't possess wings like he does, and have no idea what he is either), or if he was born that way, or had a Cruxis Crystal or what. And every time Edward asks, he deliberately avoids the question.
-Dhaos either enchanted his castle to look like the one he lives in on Derris-Kharlan, or built a replica of it from scratch. ...Or he summoned his actual castle from home. We have absolutely no idea which one it was, as all NDX shows you is that they look exactly the same. It's even possible that maybe Dhaos just happened to find a castle identical to his own lying around, and decided to use it. I find that unlikely, but again, we don't know.With Dhaos' hideous luck, maybe the universe just wanted to mock him. So there's some magical mystery there.
-...I think the offhand mention of being able to survive a hit from a Mana Cannon deserves a mention here. You could, of course, argue that the scientists just don't know the true power of the cannon.
Dhaos' abilities change between mediums: in the OVA, he has even more ambiguously villainous powers, mostly of the kind where you simply gesture in the right direction and stuff happens.
-He apparently set up the barrier around the Giant Tree that appears in the second episode of the OVA, and dispells it with a wave of his hand.
-In the beginning, he raises his hand and pretty much obliterates the entire area surrounded the coffin he was sealed in (including Mars, the sucker). When Cress and Mint return, the entire room seems to have collapsed.
-When hethrows a fit confronts Cress at the Yggdrasil, he basically just concentrates and a huge blast of force and light just shoots out of his body, and continues to do so until he leaves.
Which, uh, leads me to my next point. Dhaos... has ridiculously short cast times. It's kinda unfair (Big Bang literally has NO cast time, orz). Dhaos Laser takes only the time for the orb of light to gather between his hands, which isn't very long at all, and the rest of his spells have relatively short cast times for their power. And besides that, his magic is extremely powerful: he sends the entire party to the floor with just Chaos in the Drama CDs (he only uses three moves in that track: Tetra Assault, Explosion, and Chaos, in that order. The entire party passes out after Chaos.)
Time Magic
Yeah, this gets a section all to itself.
Contrary to popular belief, Dhaos' ability to time-travel (and planet jump, for that matter) isn't an ability he originally had. It was granted to him by a spell cast by a ton of people on Derris-Kharlan using their life force, and it only works a limited number of times. He uses the last one to run from either Morrison-tachi or Cress-tachi, depending on the timeline. This is why he spends the future and present being considerably less chill in general (in addition to all the other crap that happens): even were he to obtain a seed, he has no way to bring it back. He ends up deciding that there's nothing he can do about it and he'll worry about transportation once he actually has a seed to transport.
Note: This, uh, is contradicted by Narikiri Dungeon X, where he gives a time-traveling ring to another character. If Dhaos has a limited number of time jumps, there is no way he would give that ring away, unless he was either stupid, unrealistically sentimental, or for some reason didn't know he could run out of time jumps. I have no idea how this is supposed to work and mostly ignore it due to not playing from NDX, so it shouldn't be that much of a problem.
As for how powerful these time jumps are... We have no idea. We can guess: the ring that Dhaos gives to aforementioned other character activates on its own and flings its owner into another time period. Cress tries to stop it using the Eternal Sword... only to almost get dragged along himself. The ring's magic, at least, is more powerful than the Eternal Sword. Normally it would stand to reason that the original owner of the ring was at least as strong as the ring itself, but... Well, Phantasia. Do Dhaos' power and the ring's power have the same origin? Did Dhaos enchant the ring? Did he get his powers from the same person who gave him the ring/enchanted the ring? We have no idea. So there's another train of thought down the drain.
Dhaos has two time-stopping moves, Time Stop and Dhaos Flasher, which doesn't last as long. In his Seraph form, Dhaos is immune to Time Stop, and presumably all time-stop-related magic.
Artes/Skills
Tetra Assault - Two punches, two kicks. Is known in-game for having a tendency to be really annoying.
Million Assault - The above times a million (and by a million, I mean 17).
Fireball - Three fireballs. Weak.
Ice Arrows - Three ice arrows, also weak.
Lightning - Obvious.
Glaive - Basically a bunch of stalagmites shoot up from the ground in an attempt to impale Dhaos' enemies. Again, weakest stone spell.
Tetra Spell - In most Phantasia games, the above four spells. In VS, Explosion, Ground Dasher, Tidal Wave and Cyclone. ...Yeah, I know. Quite a difference there. Anyway, this can range from irritating to horrifyingly powerful depending on the effort he puts into it.
Tidal Wave - Self-explanatory. Strongest water spell he has.
Explosion - Self-explanatory. Strongest flame spell he has.
Cyclone - Strongest wind spell he has. You getting tired of these obvious names yet?
Ice Tornado - ...Apparently not.
Flare Tornado - Mid-tier flame spell.
Ray - An orb of light shines down for a moment, and then a whole bunch of rays shoot out of it. Mid-tier light spell.
Judgment - ITT Symphonia Seraphim. If you're not familiar with them, just know that it calls a ton (15) of beams down out of the sky that pound everything into the ground. Generally considered to be the strongest light spell in Aseliaverse canon (gameplay is debatable).
Black Hole - Creates a black hole that sucks in enemies. Probably not something he can pull off in Luceti.
Meteor Storm - Self-explanatory. And these aren't dinky little meteors, either.
Big Bang -...Why does Dhaos have this as a regular spell? Burst of energy that functions exactly the way it sounds. Rather ridiculously, this one has absolutely no cast time in NDX. We'll just... add one for the sake of everyone's sanity.
Extension/Extinction/Dissolve - Translations >< Insta-death spell. ...Yeah, he's not going to be able to pull this one off at all here.
Dhaos Collider - Dhaos charges up energy in his hand and slams it into the ground, creating an explosion/shockwave that'll knock everyone standing nearby off their feet. Sometimes translated as Dhaos Blast or Dhaos Corridor.
Dhaos Flasher - A sort of shorter Time Stop-ish move.
Dhaos Laser - His signature move. Fires a HUGEFRIGGIN laser out of his hands. Does not seem to have any charge time. Known among Phantasia players for Dhaos' amusing move-calling and total party kill >___>
Super Dhaos Laser - Real creative, I know. Basically an enormous version of the above. Dhaos' Mystic Arte.
Time Stop - This move, obviously, stops time, though whether this is an innate ability or not is up in the air. He obviously still has it after using up all his time-jumps, so I assume it's unrelated to that, but I'm not sure how this would work in Luceti.
TL;DR I should play characters that aren't the single most powerful thing on their respective planets. It's much easier.
Physical
Dhaos is a seraph, and thus stronger than he looks-- stronger than any human would be, at any rate. He also seems to know some form of martial arts, as his physical attacks have some form to them. Even without his magic, Dhaos is not the guy you want to pick a fight with, as he can and will break bones if he has to.
Dhaos has some sort of resistance to physical attack that makes him invulnerable to anything that isn't magic. Er. To keep this from being ridiculous, he has to be conscious and paying attention for this to work. Also, he, uh, is spoken of as possibly being able to survive a direct blast from the Mana Cannon. Obviously not without serious injury, but it's clear he can take quite the beating before going down.
But Luceti, of course, has this nasty tendency to go OKAY LOL YOU'RE HUMAN NOW. Nothing can take away the knowledge of how to fight, but in these situations Dhaos' main asset would be speed. He's in shape, but not particularly muscular, and while probably strong of his own accord, he'd just as probably be screwed if outnumbered.
Magic
Now this is where things start getting fuzzy. Tales of Phantasia was released in 1995, and as villain from a game released in 1995 who has a grand total of five scenes, Dhaos' powers are extremely ambiguous. Let's start with what we know he can do:
-He can float, like most evil sorcerers in videogames.
-He can teleport, and does so when he meets the party at the Yggdrasil in the future. ...Or, uh, he does so to leave.
-He can use a form of mind control, which can be cast through walls (or at least, coffin walls) and while he's sealed.
--->This is actually not mind control, but Dhaos choosing a trait that already exists and amplifying it: he used Mars' greed to manipulate him into searching for a way to release an allegedly crazy demon king, and he used Demeter's budding resentment over being unappreciated due to being a half-elf to get him to kill the Scarlett couple. It's extremely unreliable and tends to end in destruction everywhere, which is why he had Jamir keeping watch over Prince Laird/Leaird/insert name of choice here.
-He also has the mana-sensing abilities of the elves/demons/angels, as per Aseliaverse tradition. Things like species and the mana level and such.
-Time magic. Will discuss this later.
And now for the uncertain stuff!
-Exactly how resistant to physical attack he is. In the game, obviously he has to be defeatable, but in the Drama CDs, Cress can't hurt him even when he lands a hit with the Eternal Sword: it takes the Valkyrie turning up with Gungnir for him to start getting any results.
-His seraph wings. We don't know if Dhaos has always had them, or if he only gained them in the final boss fight after screaming to the gods of Derris-Kharlan for help. He is capable of summoning his wings at will in NDX, however, after his death.
-There's a skit in NDX detailing how hard you have to try to get Dhaos to eat, and he spends literally decades traveling without any visible effect on his appearance, but we have no idea how many of the 'seraphic' characteristics he actually has. ...And we don't even really know if he's a seraph (the people of Derris-Kharlan don't possess wings like he does, and have no idea what he is either), or if he was born that way, or had a Cruxis Crystal or what. And every time Edward asks, he deliberately avoids the question.
-Dhaos either enchanted his castle to look like the one he lives in on Derris-Kharlan, or built a replica of it from scratch. ...Or he summoned his actual castle from home. We have absolutely no idea which one it was, as all NDX shows you is that they look exactly the same. It's even possible that maybe Dhaos just happened to find a castle identical to his own lying around, and decided to use it. I find that unlikely, but again, we don't know.
-...I think the offhand mention of being able to survive a hit from a Mana Cannon deserves a mention here. You could, of course, argue that the scientists just don't know the true power of the cannon.
Dhaos' abilities change between mediums: in the OVA, he has even more ambiguously villainous powers, mostly of the kind where you simply gesture in the right direction and stuff happens.
-He apparently set up the barrier around the Giant Tree that appears in the second episode of the OVA, and dispells it with a wave of his hand.
-In the beginning, he raises his hand and pretty much obliterates the entire area surrounded the coffin he was sealed in (including Mars, the sucker). When Cress and Mint return, the entire room seems to have collapsed.
-When he
Which, uh, leads me to my next point. Dhaos... has ridiculously short cast times. It's kinda unfair (Big Bang literally has NO cast time, orz). Dhaos Laser takes only the time for the orb of light to gather between his hands, which isn't very long at all, and the rest of his spells have relatively short cast times for their power. And besides that, his magic is extremely powerful: he sends the entire party to the floor with just Chaos in the Drama CDs (he only uses three moves in that track: Tetra Assault, Explosion, and Chaos, in that order. The entire party passes out after Chaos.)
Time Magic
Yeah, this gets a section all to itself.
Contrary to popular belief, Dhaos' ability to time-travel (and planet jump, for that matter) isn't an ability he originally had. It was granted to him by a spell cast by a ton of people on Derris-Kharlan using their life force, and it only works a limited number of times. He uses the last one to run from either Morrison-tachi or Cress-tachi, depending on the timeline. This is why he spends the future and present being considerably less chill in general (in addition to all the other crap that happens): even were he to obtain a seed, he has no way to bring it back. He ends up deciding that there's nothing he can do about it and he'll worry about transportation once he actually has a seed to transport.
Note: This, uh, is contradicted by Narikiri Dungeon X, where he gives a time-traveling ring to another character. If Dhaos has a limited number of time jumps, there is no way he would give that ring away, unless he was either stupid, unrealistically sentimental, or for some reason didn't know he could run out of time jumps. I have no idea how this is supposed to work and mostly ignore it due to not playing from NDX, so it shouldn't be that much of a problem.
As for how powerful these time jumps are... We have no idea. We can guess: the ring that Dhaos gives to aforementioned other character activates on its own and flings its owner into another time period. Cress tries to stop it using the Eternal Sword... only to almost get dragged along himself. The ring's magic, at least, is more powerful than the Eternal Sword. Normally it would stand to reason that the original owner of the ring was at least as strong as the ring itself, but... Well, Phantasia. Do Dhaos' power and the ring's power have the same origin? Did Dhaos enchant the ring? Did he get his powers from the same person who gave him the ring/enchanted the ring? We have no idea. So there's another train of thought down the drain.
Dhaos has two time-stopping moves, Time Stop and Dhaos Flasher, which doesn't last as long. In his Seraph form, Dhaos is immune to Time Stop, and presumably all time-stop-related magic.
Artes/Skills
Tetra Assault - Two punches, two kicks. Is known in-game for having a tendency to be really annoying.
Million Assault - The above times a million (and by a million, I mean 17).
Fireball - Three fireballs. Weak.
Ice Arrows - Three ice arrows, also weak.
Lightning - Obvious.
Glaive - Basically a bunch of stalagmites shoot up from the ground in an attempt to impale Dhaos' enemies. Again, weakest stone spell.
Tetra Spell - In most Phantasia games, the above four spells. In VS, Explosion, Ground Dasher, Tidal Wave and Cyclone. ...Yeah, I know. Quite a difference there. Anyway, this can range from irritating to horrifyingly powerful depending on the effort he puts into it.
Tidal Wave - Self-explanatory. Strongest water spell he has.
Explosion - Self-explanatory. Strongest flame spell he has.
Cyclone - Strongest wind spell he has. You getting tired of these obvious names yet?
Ice Tornado - ...Apparently not.
Flare Tornado - Mid-tier flame spell.
Ray - An orb of light shines down for a moment, and then a whole bunch of rays shoot out of it. Mid-tier light spell.
Judgment - ITT Symphonia Seraphim. If you're not familiar with them, just know that it calls a ton (15) of beams down out of the sky that pound everything into the ground. Generally considered to be the strongest light spell in Aseliaverse canon (gameplay is debatable).
Black Hole - Creates a black hole that sucks in enemies. Probably not something he can pull off in Luceti.
Meteor Storm - Self-explanatory. And these aren't dinky little meteors, either.
Big Bang -
Extension/Extinction/Dissolve - Translations >< Insta-death spell. ...Yeah, he's not going to be able to pull this one off at all here.
Dhaos Collider - Dhaos charges up energy in his hand and slams it into the ground, creating an explosion/shockwave that'll knock everyone standing nearby off their feet. Sometimes translated as Dhaos Blast or Dhaos Corridor.
Dhaos Flasher - A sort of shorter Time Stop-ish move.
Dhaos Laser - His signature move. Fires a HUGEFRIGGIN laser out of his hands. Does not seem to have any charge time. Known among Phantasia players for Dhaos' amusing move-calling and total party kill >___>
Super Dhaos Laser - Real creative, I know. Basically an enormous version of the above. Dhaos' Mystic Arte.
Time Stop - This move, obviously, stops time, though whether this is an innate ability or not is up in the air. He obviously still has it after using up all his time-jumps, so I assume it's unrelated to that, but I'm not sure how this would work in Luceti.
TL;DR I should play characters that aren't the single most powerful thing on their respective planets. It's much easier.
The New, Improved Character Survey of Doom
Body and Appearance
1. Describe the character's height and build. Is he heavyset, thin, short, rangy?
Dhaos is tall-- just over two meters (or about 6'7" for my fellow Americans)-- but very thin. Slender, maybe.
2. How old is he?
...Old. We have no idea, actually. But I can guess.
Dhaos' appearance remains constant throughout Tales of Phantasia. This is nothing particularly special for most of the characters, but time passes differently for Dhaos: Present Dhaos is actually about 17 years older than Past Dhaos. Two decades is a long time not to age! And in Narikiri Dungeon X (NDX from now on) he still looks the same even before he leaves Derris-Kharlan. Past Aselia was no where near his first time jump, so we can assume that Dhaos has looked like that for a loooong time.
What does this prove? That you can't determine Dhaos' age from his appearance.
Very helpful, I know.
3. Describe his posture. Does he carry himself well or does he slouch?
Dhaos is the freaking prince of Elusion, of course he doesn't slouch.
4. How is his health? Is he fit or out of shape? Any illnesses or conditions? Any physical disabilities?
Well, despite his thinness Dhaos is normally in pretty good shape, seeing as how he can beat the crap out of people with Tetra Assault (and have you seen that animation? I definitely can't lift my leg that high!) But after a ton of time jumps, he's all but dying of mana deprivation-- his body has exhausted its mana and tries to recover by taking it from his surroundings. Dhaos spends most of the side novel KataReki being ill, frequently passing out and at one point being completely incapable of walking for mana exhaustion. This is partially because Aselia's mana levels are so low-- his own mana levels won't recover. This is why he starts out at less than full health in the Present boss fight: because Aselia's Giant Kharlan Tree is dead, and Dhaos' body has to eat itself for mana.
He's still afflicted in the Future, but not as badly, I think. Though he's still much weaker than he was on Derris-Kharlan.
5. How does he move? Is he clumsy, graceful, tense, fluid?
Dhaos doesn't do a whole lot of walking-- he mostly floats in the games and OVA-- but he comes off as graceful either way. Yeah, prince, hello.
6. How attractive is this character physically? How does he perceive himself in the mirror?
...Isn't this a subjective thing? Who am I to say how attractive Dhaos is?
...That said, Dhaos is an angel with long blond hair, so I imagine he's supposed to come off as beautiful. He definitely cares about his appearance, at any rate-- I doubt that hair brushes itself.
7. Describe his complexion. Dark, light, clear, scarred?
Frickin' pale. I don't know if that's his natural skin color or just the mana deprivation, though.
8. Describe his hair: color, texture, style.
Dhaos' hair color varies from outright yellow to platinum blond, with the latter mostly being in official art where he isn't glowing >__> It's waist-length and wavy and curly and generally how you would imagine an angel's hair to be. There's a little curl of it that hangs down between his eyes.
9. What color are his eyes?
Blue. Nothing special there.
10. Does the character have any other noteworthy features?
He wears this dual cloak/mantle thing all the time. No one can decide whether the lower cloak is red or brown, though. I use brown, since that seems to be the general consensus.
11. What are his chief tension centers?
I need this question explained to me.
12. What is the character's wardrobe like? Casual, dressy, utilitarian? Bright colors, pastels, neutrals? Is it varied, or does he have six of the same suit?
Dhaos is seen in a grand total of two outfits: the cloak and mantle described above, and his KataReki outfit. That one doesn't have an official coloring scheme, so the colors of course vary.
Anyway, Dhaos' clothes are mostly some dark color, and rather formal, but he tries not to give it too much thought as he always wears his cloak and mantle over it.
...Except in the case of his KataReki outfit. Go figure.
13. Do his clothes fit well? Does he seem comfortable in them?
Dhaos got Yggdrasill into spandex. LOL. But yes, his clothes are well-fitting-- and clearly he's comfortable in them, or else he'd wear something else.
14. Does he dress the same on the job as he does in his free time? If not, what are the differences?
The prince has no free time, genius!
...Actually, as mentioned above, Dhaos has an alternate outfit when hanging out with the circus in KataReki. ...Yes, Dhaos has friends in the circus. It's a long story.
15. You knew it was coming: Boxers, briefs or commando?
Whatever it is, we can't see it through his spandex XD
Speech
1. What does this character's voice sound like? High-pitched, deep, hoarse?
Welp. That depends on whether or not you like Kaneto Shiozawa's Dhaos.
Assuming most people imagine Dhaos sounding like his voices from the OVA, both English and Japanese Dhaos have low, deep-sounding voices. For comparison, Japanese!Dhaos is voiced by the same guy who does Yuan and Sephiroth. Yep.
To me, Dhaos sounds like the Dhaos of the Drama CDs and game. Shiozawa'a Dhaos has a bit of a higher-pitched voice, which tends to get higher the more upset he is, but by the time he's upset you won't notice the pitch because holy crap he sounds like a freaking madman. That's just me, though.
Deep and smooth, basically. We'll go with that.
2. How does he normally speak? Loud, soft, fast, evenly? Does he talk easily, or does he hesitate?
Dhaos doesn't normally speak.
No, seriously, "..." is his favorite word. Ever.
Assuming he can't avoid it, Dhaos doesn't hesitate with his words, and tends to speak quietly and evenly. Unless he's angry, in which case you're in for some loud rambling.
3. Does the character have a distinct accent or dialect? Any individual quirks of pronunciation? Any, like, you know, verbal tics?
In the Japanese game, Dhaos' use of pronouns is apparently the whole reason the party fails to see that he's actually not out to destroy Aselia just for lulz.
Familiar with the Japanese word 'kisama'? That's what Dhaos uses to refer to the party. Both the party and the players are used to kisama being used as an insult, because quite frankly that's what every single other demon king in popular media uses to refer to the heroes. The problem with this is that Dhaos is the King of Outrageously Archaic Speech, and in the Land of Outrageously Archaic Speech-- medieval Japan, apparently-- 'kisama' is just a polite way to address people below your rank.
Dhaos is the ruler of the largest country in his world. Everyone is below his rank. When he calls someone 'kisama', he's trying to be polite.
There is, of course, no way to translate this into English, so you'll have to settle for the English version of formal speech and my limited vocabulary.
4. What language/s does he speak, and with how much fluency?
Angelic and Aselian/Common/Whatever, both fluently.
5. Does he switch languages or dialects in certain situations?
Nope. He always speaks Aselian/Common/Whatever, though I assume he knows Angelic. It's probably only used for spells and such. Though I know he switches from ridiculously formal ruler speech to marginally less formal 'yeah just me' speech depending on who he's talking to, and in what situation.
6. Is he a good impromptu speaker, or does he have to think about his words?
Apparently? Yes. He has an answer for everything Cress throws at him, including rants he apparently thinks up on the spot. Randomly asking Cress if he's a vegetarian just leads into a big speech about how Cress doesn't apologize for killing animals to eat them, so why should Dhaos apologize for killing humans to survive and accomplish his goals?
7. Is he eloquent or inarticulate? Under what circumstances might this change?
Eloquent. Even when he's so angry he can't think straight, he's eloquent.
Mental and Emotional
1. How intelligent is this character? Is he book-smart or street-smart?
Dhaos is pretty intelligent and knowledgeable, but in KataReki he's shown to be utterly clueless about Aselia. I guess this makes him booksmart, then? But he has plenty of common sense-- more than most Aseliaverse characters, actually. ...Which isn't saying much, because of course the exceptions are people in similar situations as Dhaos.
2. Does he think on his feet, or does he need time to deliberate?
He can think on his feet, but he would much rather deliberate, as that tends to lead to more informed decisions.
3. Describe the character's thought process. Is he more logical, or more intuitive? Idealistic or practical?
KataReki!Dhaos is your typical white prince, actually, idealistic while still being practical and realistic somehow, but then he becomes the Demon King. After that, he's got a whole rant about how a life is worth a life and taking one for the other isn't good or evil, only common sense. The practical side takes over completely.
4. What kind of education has the character had?
I certainly hope a very good one, since he's the prince. He at least has had some martial arts training.
5. What are his areas of expertise? What, if anything, is he interested in learning more about?
Ruling, apparently. While he'd rather focus on subjects regarding his goals, he spends KataReki not hesitating to do things like go looking for unicorns with little girls and talking about Winona's crossbow collection, and so on.
6. Is he an introvert or an extrovert?
Definitely an introvert. Try asking him about himself, I dare you.
7. Describe the character's temperament. Is he even-tempered or does he have mood swings? Cheerful or melancholy? Laid-back or driven?
Normally, Dhaos is pretty laid-back and even-tempered, and more than willing to deal with people. During the game? Not so much. He's determined to accomplish his goals and viciously suspicious of people.
8. How does he respond to new people or situations? Is he suspicious, relaxed, timid, enthusiastic?
Well, he spends most of KataReki being curious, but again. Reisen, he likes to destroy Dhaos' mellowness. Immediate suspicion is the more likely response nowadays.
9. Is he more likely to act, or to react?
Depends on the situation and whether or not he's in a good mood. No grey area here: he either acts calmly or reacts violently.
10. Which is his default: fight or flight?
Ignore.
No but seriously, as much as he dislikes fighting he clearly doesn't hesitate to do so when he thinks he has to, or else the Demon King fiasco might not have happened. Though if fighting is likely to hurt someone he's close to, then he'll just run. Winona and Reisen fffff >__>
11. Describe the character's sense of humor. Does he appreciate jokes? Puns? Gallows humor? Bathroom humor? Pranks?
Aha, nope. Some occasional fail trolling, but sense of humor? None. If he doesn't understand the humor, he'll just "..." as usual.
12. Does the character have any diagnosable mental disorders? If yes, how does he deal with them?
No biological ones, but... Well. The main difference between Dhaos and other guys perched precariously on their slippery slopes is that he knows it and doesn't like it. But he can't really stop himself from feeling the way he does.
13. What moments in this character's life have defined him as a person?
Karion's death, and Mint almost reenacting Karion's death. Karion's death made things go from 'want to save my world' to 'NEED to save my world, no matter what,' while Mint unknowingly copying Karion's exact last words pretty much killed Dhaos' resolve entirely. He literally just lets Cress kill him after that.
14. What does he fear?
He's got an entire planet depending on him coming home safely/coming home period, and he's got no room for failure. He doesn't want anyone he's supposed to be responsible for to get hurt because of his inadequacy.
15. What are his hopes or aspirations?
He's fully of the belief that living to see Derris-Kharlan again is an impossibility, so he just wants to make sure it'll go on without him alright. Beyond that, he really just wants everything to be done and over with.
16. What is something he doesn't want anyone to find out about him?
Everything.
No, seriously, have you seen all that crap up there? Dhaos never answers questions about himself, period. His life is his own and he doesn't want people knowing about it, nor does he want to recap.
Relationships
1. Describe this character's relationship with his parents.
We have no idea. They were presumably the previous prince/princess, so it's possible they didn't spend much time with him, but again. Dhaos doesn't talk about his personal life at all.
2. Does the character have any siblings? What is/was their relationship like?
I doubt it. Again, Dhaos never talks about himself, and never mentions or even thinks about any family besides Karion.
3. Are there other blood relatives to whom he is close? Are there ones he can't stand?
See above. Probably not.
4. Are there other, unrelated people whom he considers part of his family? What are his relationships with them?
Well, he had a girlfriend named Karion who was very important to him, and I suspect he considers Winona a sort of family as well.
In Luceti, Dhaos babysits Sophie for Fenimore once in a while, and that's the closest thing to family he has. But during the Luceti Valley event, he did have Sheena as a daughter, and so she gets less of his MWRRR HUMANS ire than most.
5. Who is/was the character's best friend? How did they meet?
Ignoring Karion, Winona. Winona and her friends were out looking for the unicorn one day, because they're a traveling circus of orphans and have heard that seeing the unicorn will grant you a wish. As they really, really need that wish, they're out on the Valhalla plains looking for the unicorn's forest when they see a huge pillar of light shining down from the sky. They follow it, and find one (1) Dhaos collapsed from mana exhaustion.
They drag him back home and take care of him, and that's how Dhaos and Winona met.
6. Does he have other close friends?
Eh... Not that I know of. In NDX Rondoline is added to the cast, but mostly it's just Winona and the random kids around the circus. Apparently Dhaos has a soft spot for kids.
In Luceti, Dhaos's closest friends are Grune and Yuan. ...Pretty much the whole Legendia cast comes next. XD
7. Does he make friends easily, or does he have trouble getting along with people?
Disinclination to talk about self + disinclination to talk period does not make for easy friend-making. But he does make an effort to be genial, and is described by most people in KataReki as kind and considerate.
Unless he's from post-KataReki, in which case he no longer believes in people and is predisposed to assume everyone will pick a fight given the chance. Then he has some issues. In Luceti, he does his best to get along, but he doesn't try to make friends. He doesn't exactly want to get killed for no reason, you see...
8. Which does he consider more important: family or friends?
...Seeing as he apparently doesn't have much of a family, we'll go with friends for the moment.
9. Is the character single, married, divorced, widowed? Has he been married more than once?
He's single, but again: dead girlfriend.
10. Is he currently in a romantic relationship with someone other than a spouse?
Ignoring Karion, Dhaos would actually have considered returning Winona's affection if not for two things:
1. She begins the book at 15 years old, and Dhaos is very aware of it. He might have been inclined to wait for her, but then Tales of Phantasia happened, and by the time she was 20 he was the Demon King.
2. He's completely and utterly convinced that their relationship would be doomed to end unhappily, as he'll either die or have to leave, and he doesn't want to go down that road.
Right about now, the only reason Dhaos hasn't realized his feelings for Grune is because GRUNE AND ROMANCE, WHAT IS THAT.
11. Who was his first crush? Who is his latest?
...I don't know if Karion was his first love, though considering Dhaos's occupation that seems likely. KataReki Dhaos is definitely lonely enough to be in a relationship with someone else (*coughWinonacough*), but I don't think 'crush' is the best word there.
12. What does he look for in a romantic partner?
...Probably just someone who can keep him happy.
Well, Luceti Dhaos would probably want someone with a head on their shoulders and a kind heart, in addition to that.
13. Does the character have children? Grandchildren? If yes, how does he relate to them? If no, does he want any?
No, he has none, and yes, he wouldn't mind having them eventually. He probably planned to before he left! But now he's convinced he'd make a horrible husband/father/person to be even remotely related to, so the idea is no longer anywhere near his head.
14. Does he have any rivals or enemies?
...He's the villain of the story. Take a wild guess.
Assuming that this question has an unwritten 'Elaborate' slapped onto the end of it, Dhaos doesn't actually consider Cress an enemy, especially not in Luceti: he admits in the Drama CDs that Cress is very much in the right and he in the wrong, and that he deserved his death. Dhaos's true enemy is... well, humanity in general, but he also spends a lot of time cursing his luck. XD Of course, the person on the very top of his To Kill list is Reisen, who not only lied to everyone and started this whole mess, but chopped off his best friend's arm before doing so.
Going back to Cress, do note that attacking Dhaos is still a very good way to get him not to like you. XD
15. What is the character's sexual orientation? Where does he fall on the Kinsey scale?
Literally every positive relationship Dhaos has is with a woman. Winona, Rondoline, Karion, Silverberg, the girls from the circus, Martel, even Jamir. Jamir. The ruler of the demons. I'm going to go out on a limb here and say he's heterosexual >__> But really, we don't know. He doesn't exactly like to talk about himself, and romantic relationships are right out. He does have a girlfriend, of course.
16. How does he feel about sex? How important is it to him?
Leeet's try this again. Dhaos is, of course, a prince, and as a prince has likely had the SEX SUCKS AND YOU SHOULD NEVER DO IT EVER 8D thing pounded into his head from a young age. So for him, it'd be something of a crime to bang anyone he isn't married to, and sometimes even then, and he'd rather show his affection in some other way. Of course, this doesn't mean that Dhaos NEVER has such urges, just that they don't come as easily as they might for others and even when they do, he's less likely to act on them.
17. What are his turn-ons? Turn-offs? Weird bedroom habits?
...How should I know? XD
Beliefs
1. Do you know your character's astrological (zodiac of choice) sign? How well does he fit type?
No one has any idea when Dhaos was born, which kinda goes with the whole 'not knowing his age' thing. I remember vaguely entertaining the idea of him being a Leo, but I can't remember why. Will go look up Leo traits and get back to that later.
...I actually made it Luceti canon that Dhaos no longer knows how old he is, due to time-traveling and calender differences. XD
2. Is this character religious, spiritual, both, or neither? How important are these elements in his life?
He obviously believes in some higher power, given his pre-final-boss speech. And when Norn orders him to stop being a huge dick in NDX, he teleports away without a word, so clearly he respects them though he later returns to try and murder her children behind her back lol, so not THAT much.
He doesn't mention them beyond screaming for their help at the end of ToP, however.
3. Does this character have a personal code of morals or ethics? If so, how did that begin? What would it take to compromise it?
Pregame Dhaos is the friendly, quiet type who dislikes fighting. He only fights to defend himself or others.
Afterwards... Demon King. Ack. That happened because of a perceived necessity-- if he didn't change, Derris-Kharlan would have gone the way of the dodo, and he had already given humanity a chance. He still has a conscience, though, as he gives up fighting Cress when he realizes that they're exactly the same.
Nowadays, in Luceti, Dhaos has no purpose and his morals have made a bit of a comeback: he sacrificed them to save Derris-Kharlan, and now that he's decided that that's impossible, he's trying to salvage what he can. He can't change the way he feels, though...
4. How does he regard beliefs that differ from his? Is he tolerant, intolerant, curious, indifferent?
At first he's tolerant, and a little curious, given his attitude towards Winona. But then Reisen happens and, well. Now having a different opinion is instant grounds for suspicion and distrust.
5. What prejudices does he hold? Are they irrational or does he have a good reason for them?
At first Dhaos apparently gets himself into trouble and arguments with Winona because he's the prince of Elusion and Aselia is mostly a planet of what he considers to be backwater hicks, but he shuts up when he realizes he's the one being stupid and fixes his view of things.
Now? Being human is a very good way to get Dhaos not to like you. Of course being constantly rejected and attacked by humans for stupid reasons is grounds for not liking them, but the feeling is less than rational in his case.
Children, by the way, are all nice people in Dhaos's eyes, even humans. Unless they march up to his doorstep and attack him, at which point they take their place next to the adults.
Daily Life
1. What is the character's financial situation? Is he rich, poor, comfortable, in debt?
...Prooooobaby the richest friggin' person on his planet. Not that he needs the money.
2. What is his social status? Has this changed over time, and if so, how has the change affected him?
Dhaos used to be the prince of Elusion-- still is-- but that means nothing on Aselia, or in Luceti. Apparently in KataReki it causes conflicts with Winona because he's used to being on top and she is... not. LOL. He's not quite as fond of asserting his authority as he presumably was on Derris-Kharlan, and thanks to Winona he doesn't have botched expectations.
3. Where does he live? House, apartment, trailer? Is his home his castle or just a place to crash? What condition is it in? Does he share it with others?
Pregame!Dhaos lives in a palace. Or with the traveling circus, or in that huge castle all alone with all 'dem demons. Take your pick.
Luceti's Dhaos lives in Community Housing Building 3, on the sixth floor. As of right now, he is the only person on that floor, and that's just how he likes it.Don't let that discourage you from moving in, though! It's been a year, how does he not have neighbors yet?
4. Besides the basic necessities, what does he spend his money on?
Luceti has no money, Aselia!Dhaos had no money, and back on Derris-Kharlan Dhaos in all probability never had to pay for anything. LOLOLOL. When he did have money on Aselia, it was presumably spent on basic necessities, as he lived with a traveling circus consisting entirely of orphans and himself. XD;
5. What does he do for a living? Is he good at it? Does he enjoy it, or would he rather be doing something else?
Dhaos is the prince of Elusion, and he would probably still do it even if all his privileges were taken from him.
6. What are his interests or hobbies? How does he spend his free time?
Stargazing is the only thing he does that could be considered a hobby, really. Though apparently if he's in the right mood you could probably get him interested in anything (KataReki examples of this include spellwork, crossbows, unicorns...).
7. What are his eating habits? Does he skip meals, eat out, drink alcohol, avoid certain foods?
There's an entire skit in NDX dedicated to how much effort it takes Rondoline to get Dhaos to eat something. LOLOLOL. So I'm guessing he doesn't really have to, like the Seraphim of Symphonia. I don't know, though, so I headcanon that he has to eat once in a while. He'll decline food if offered, but he will drink alcohol once in a while. You know how it is, royal character = drinks wine.
Associations
Which of the following do you associate with the character, or which is his favorite:
1. Color? I associate him with gold, for obvious reasons. I actually think his favorite might be red, though, just a feeling.
2. Smell? ...I don't know.
3. Time of day? ...Well, can't go stargazing during the day, so...
4. Season? By way of Grune thread, summer. XD;;
5. Book? Don't know.Definitely not KataReki.
6. Music? No idea. Yes, I know.
7. Place? I DUNNOOO. His bedroom back at home seems like a good guess XD; We'll just say Derris-Kharlan in general.
8. Substance? No idea again.
9. Plant? ...Giant trees?
10. Animal? I'm not sure he has any preference, but for me, baby boars will always remind me of Dhaos now XD; This is Angie's fault.
Body and Appearance
1. Describe the character's height and build. Is he heavyset, thin, short, rangy?
Dhaos is tall-- just over two meters (or about 6'7" for my fellow Americans)-- but very thin. Slender, maybe.
2. How old is he?
...Old. We have no idea, actually. But I can guess.
Dhaos' appearance remains constant throughout Tales of Phantasia. This is nothing particularly special for most of the characters, but time passes differently for Dhaos: Present Dhaos is actually about 17 years older than Past Dhaos. Two decades is a long time not to age! And in Narikiri Dungeon X (NDX from now on) he still looks the same even before he leaves Derris-Kharlan. Past Aselia was no where near his first time jump, so we can assume that Dhaos has looked like that for a loooong time.
What does this prove? That you can't determine Dhaos' age from his appearance.
Very helpful, I know.
3. Describe his posture. Does he carry himself well or does he slouch?
Dhaos is the freaking prince of Elusion, of course he doesn't slouch.
4. How is his health? Is he fit or out of shape? Any illnesses or conditions? Any physical disabilities?
Well, despite his thinness Dhaos is normally in pretty good shape, seeing as how he can beat the crap out of people with Tetra Assault (and have you seen that animation? I definitely can't lift my leg that high!) But after a ton of time jumps, he's all but dying of mana deprivation-- his body has exhausted its mana and tries to recover by taking it from his surroundings. Dhaos spends most of the side novel KataReki being ill, frequently passing out and at one point being completely incapable of walking for mana exhaustion. This is partially because Aselia's mana levels are so low-- his own mana levels won't recover. This is why he starts out at less than full health in the Present boss fight: because Aselia's Giant Kharlan Tree is dead, and Dhaos' body has to eat itself for mana.
He's still afflicted in the Future, but not as badly, I think. Though he's still much weaker than he was on Derris-Kharlan.
5. How does he move? Is he clumsy, graceful, tense, fluid?
Dhaos doesn't do a whole lot of walking-- he mostly floats in the games and OVA-- but he comes off as graceful either way. Yeah, prince, hello.
6. How attractive is this character physically? How does he perceive himself in the mirror?
...Isn't this a subjective thing? Who am I to say how attractive Dhaos is?
...That said, Dhaos is an angel with long blond hair, so I imagine he's supposed to come off as beautiful. He definitely cares about his appearance, at any rate-- I doubt that hair brushes itself.
7. Describe his complexion. Dark, light, clear, scarred?
Frickin' pale. I don't know if that's his natural skin color or just the mana deprivation, though.
8. Describe his hair: color, texture, style.
Dhaos' hair color varies from outright yellow to platinum blond, with the latter mostly being in official art where he isn't glowing >__> It's waist-length and wavy and curly and generally how you would imagine an angel's hair to be. There's a little curl of it that hangs down between his eyes.
9. What color are his eyes?
Blue. Nothing special there.
10. Does the character have any other noteworthy features?
He wears this dual cloak/mantle thing all the time. No one can decide whether the lower cloak is red or brown, though. I use brown, since that seems to be the general consensus.
11. What are his chief tension centers?
I need this question explained to me.
12. What is the character's wardrobe like? Casual, dressy, utilitarian? Bright colors, pastels, neutrals? Is it varied, or does he have six of the same suit?
Dhaos is seen in a grand total of two outfits: the cloak and mantle described above, and his KataReki outfit. That one doesn't have an official coloring scheme, so the colors of course vary.
Anyway, Dhaos' clothes are mostly some dark color, and rather formal, but he tries not to give it too much thought as he always wears his cloak and mantle over it.
...Except in the case of his KataReki outfit. Go figure.
13. Do his clothes fit well? Does he seem comfortable in them?
Dhaos got Yggdrasill into spandex. LOL. But yes, his clothes are well-fitting-- and clearly he's comfortable in them, or else he'd wear something else.
14. Does he dress the same on the job as he does in his free time? If not, what are the differences?
The prince has no free time, genius!
...Actually, as mentioned above, Dhaos has an alternate outfit when hanging out with the circus in KataReki. ...Yes, Dhaos has friends in the circus. It's a long story.
15. You knew it was coming: Boxers, briefs or commando?
Whatever it is, we can't see it through his spandex XD
Speech
1. What does this character's voice sound like? High-pitched, deep, hoarse?
Welp. That depends on whether or not you like Kaneto Shiozawa's Dhaos.
Assuming most people imagine Dhaos sounding like his voices from the OVA, both English and Japanese Dhaos have low, deep-sounding voices. For comparison, Japanese!Dhaos is voiced by the same guy who does Yuan and Sephiroth. Yep.
To me, Dhaos sounds like the Dhaos of the Drama CDs and game. Shiozawa'a Dhaos has a bit of a higher-pitched voice, which tends to get higher the more upset he is, but by the time he's upset you won't notice the pitch because holy crap he sounds like a freaking madman. That's just me, though.
Deep and smooth, basically. We'll go with that.
2. How does he normally speak? Loud, soft, fast, evenly? Does he talk easily, or does he hesitate?
Dhaos doesn't normally speak.
No, seriously, "..." is his favorite word. Ever.
Assuming he can't avoid it, Dhaos doesn't hesitate with his words, and tends to speak quietly and evenly. Unless he's angry, in which case you're in for some loud rambling.
3. Does the character have a distinct accent or dialect? Any individual quirks of pronunciation? Any, like, you know, verbal tics?
In the Japanese game, Dhaos' use of pronouns is apparently the whole reason the party fails to see that he's actually not out to destroy Aselia just for lulz.
Familiar with the Japanese word 'kisama'? That's what Dhaos uses to refer to the party. Both the party and the players are used to kisama being used as an insult, because quite frankly that's what every single other demon king in popular media uses to refer to the heroes. The problem with this is that Dhaos is the King of Outrageously Archaic Speech, and in the Land of Outrageously Archaic Speech-- medieval Japan, apparently-- 'kisama' is just a polite way to address people below your rank.
Dhaos is the ruler of the largest country in his world. Everyone is below his rank. When he calls someone 'kisama', he's trying to be polite.
There is, of course, no way to translate this into English, so you'll have to settle for the English version of formal speech and my limited vocabulary.
4. What language/s does he speak, and with how much fluency?
Angelic and Aselian/Common/Whatever, both fluently.
5. Does he switch languages or dialects in certain situations?
Nope. He always speaks Aselian/Common/Whatever, though I assume he knows Angelic. It's probably only used for spells and such. Though I know he switches from ridiculously formal ruler speech to marginally less formal 'yeah just me' speech depending on who he's talking to, and in what situation.
6. Is he a good impromptu speaker, or does he have to think about his words?
Apparently? Yes. He has an answer for everything Cress throws at him, including rants he apparently thinks up on the spot. Randomly asking Cress if he's a vegetarian just leads into a big speech about how Cress doesn't apologize for killing animals to eat them, so why should Dhaos apologize for killing humans to survive and accomplish his goals?
7. Is he eloquent or inarticulate? Under what circumstances might this change?
Eloquent. Even when he's so angry he can't think straight, he's eloquent.
Mental and Emotional
1. How intelligent is this character? Is he book-smart or street-smart?
Dhaos is pretty intelligent and knowledgeable, but in KataReki he's shown to be utterly clueless about Aselia. I guess this makes him booksmart, then? But he has plenty of common sense-- more than most Aseliaverse characters, actually. ...Which isn't saying much, because of course the exceptions are people in similar situations as Dhaos.
2. Does he think on his feet, or does he need time to deliberate?
He can think on his feet, but he would much rather deliberate, as that tends to lead to more informed decisions.
3. Describe the character's thought process. Is he more logical, or more intuitive? Idealistic or practical?
KataReki!Dhaos is your typical white prince, actually, idealistic while still being practical and realistic somehow, but then he becomes the Demon King. After that, he's got a whole rant about how a life is worth a life and taking one for the other isn't good or evil, only common sense. The practical side takes over completely.
4. What kind of education has the character had?
I certainly hope a very good one, since he's the prince. He at least has had some martial arts training.
5. What are his areas of expertise? What, if anything, is he interested in learning more about?
Ruling, apparently. While he'd rather focus on subjects regarding his goals, he spends KataReki not hesitating to do things like go looking for unicorns with little girls and talking about Winona's crossbow collection, and so on.
6. Is he an introvert or an extrovert?
Definitely an introvert. Try asking him about himself, I dare you.
7. Describe the character's temperament. Is he even-tempered or does he have mood swings? Cheerful or melancholy? Laid-back or driven?
Normally, Dhaos is pretty laid-back and even-tempered, and more than willing to deal with people. During the game? Not so much. He's determined to accomplish his goals and viciously suspicious of people.
8. How does he respond to new people or situations? Is he suspicious, relaxed, timid, enthusiastic?
Well, he spends most of KataReki being curious, but again. Reisen, he likes to destroy Dhaos' mellowness. Immediate suspicion is the more likely response nowadays.
9. Is he more likely to act, or to react?
Depends on the situation and whether or not he's in a good mood. No grey area here: he either acts calmly or reacts violently.
10. Which is his default: fight or flight?
Ignore.
No but seriously, as much as he dislikes fighting he clearly doesn't hesitate to do so when he thinks he has to, or else the Demon King fiasco might not have happened. Though if fighting is likely to hurt someone he's close to, then he'll just run. Winona and Reisen fffff >__>
11. Describe the character's sense of humor. Does he appreciate jokes? Puns? Gallows humor? Bathroom humor? Pranks?
Aha, nope. Some occasional fail trolling, but sense of humor? None. If he doesn't understand the humor, he'll just "..." as usual.
12. Does the character have any diagnosable mental disorders? If yes, how does he deal with them?
No biological ones, but... Well. The main difference between Dhaos and other guys perched precariously on their slippery slopes is that he knows it and doesn't like it. But he can't really stop himself from feeling the way he does.
13. What moments in this character's life have defined him as a person?
Karion's death, and Mint almost reenacting Karion's death. Karion's death made things go from 'want to save my world' to 'NEED to save my world, no matter what,' while Mint unknowingly copying Karion's exact last words pretty much killed Dhaos' resolve entirely. He literally just lets Cress kill him after that.
14. What does he fear?
He's got an entire planet depending on him coming home safely/coming home period, and he's got no room for failure. He doesn't want anyone he's supposed to be responsible for to get hurt because of his inadequacy.
15. What are his hopes or aspirations?
He's fully of the belief that living to see Derris-Kharlan again is an impossibility, so he just wants to make sure it'll go on without him alright. Beyond that, he really just wants everything to be done and over with.
16. What is something he doesn't want anyone to find out about him?
Everything.
No, seriously, have you seen all that crap up there? Dhaos never answers questions about himself, period. His life is his own and he doesn't want people knowing about it, nor does he want to recap.
Relationships
1. Describe this character's relationship with his parents.
We have no idea. They were presumably the previous prince/princess, so it's possible they didn't spend much time with him, but again. Dhaos doesn't talk about his personal life at all.
2. Does the character have any siblings? What is/was their relationship like?
I doubt it. Again, Dhaos never talks about himself, and never mentions or even thinks about any family besides Karion.
3. Are there other blood relatives to whom he is close? Are there ones he can't stand?
See above. Probably not.
4. Are there other, unrelated people whom he considers part of his family? What are his relationships with them?
Well, he had a girlfriend named Karion who was very important to him, and I suspect he considers Winona a sort of family as well.
In Luceti, Dhaos babysits Sophie for Fenimore once in a while, and that's the closest thing to family he has. But during the Luceti Valley event, he did have Sheena as a daughter, and so she gets less of his MWRRR HUMANS ire than most.
5. Who is/was the character's best friend? How did they meet?
Ignoring Karion, Winona. Winona and her friends were out looking for the unicorn one day, because they're a traveling circus of orphans and have heard that seeing the unicorn will grant you a wish. As they really, really need that wish, they're out on the Valhalla plains looking for the unicorn's forest when they see a huge pillar of light shining down from the sky. They follow it, and find one (1) Dhaos collapsed from mana exhaustion.
They drag him back home and take care of him, and that's how Dhaos and Winona met.
6. Does he have other close friends?
Eh... Not that I know of. In NDX Rondoline is added to the cast, but mostly it's just Winona and the random kids around the circus. Apparently Dhaos has a soft spot for kids.
In Luceti, Dhaos's closest friends are Grune and Yuan. ...Pretty much the whole Legendia cast comes next. XD
7. Does he make friends easily, or does he have trouble getting along with people?
Disinclination to talk about self + disinclination to talk period does not make for easy friend-making. But he does make an effort to be genial, and is described by most people in KataReki as kind and considerate.
Unless he's from post-KataReki, in which case he no longer believes in people and is predisposed to assume everyone will pick a fight given the chance. Then he has some issues. In Luceti, he does his best to get along, but he doesn't try to make friends. He doesn't exactly want to get killed for no reason, you see...
8. Which does he consider more important: family or friends?
...Seeing as he apparently doesn't have much of a family, we'll go with friends for the moment.
9. Is the character single, married, divorced, widowed? Has he been married more than once?
He's single, but again: dead girlfriend.
10. Is he currently in a romantic relationship with someone other than a spouse?
Ignoring Karion, Dhaos would actually have considered returning Winona's affection if not for two things:
1. She begins the book at 15 years old, and Dhaos is very aware of it. He might have been inclined to wait for her, but then Tales of Phantasia happened, and by the time she was 20 he was the Demon King.
2. He's completely and utterly convinced that their relationship would be doomed to end unhappily, as he'll either die or have to leave, and he doesn't want to go down that road.
Right about now, the only reason Dhaos hasn't realized his feelings for Grune is because GRUNE AND ROMANCE, WHAT IS THAT.
11. Who was his first crush? Who is his latest?
...I don't know if Karion was his first love, though considering Dhaos's occupation that seems likely. KataReki Dhaos is definitely lonely enough to be in a relationship with someone else (*coughWinonacough*), but I don't think 'crush' is the best word there.
12. What does he look for in a romantic partner?
...Probably just someone who can keep him happy.
Well, Luceti Dhaos would probably want someone with a head on their shoulders and a kind heart, in addition to that.
13. Does the character have children? Grandchildren? If yes, how does he relate to them? If no, does he want any?
No, he has none, and yes, he wouldn't mind having them eventually. He probably planned to before he left! But now he's convinced he'd make a horrible husband/father/person to be even remotely related to, so the idea is no longer anywhere near his head.
14. Does he have any rivals or enemies?
...He's the villain of the story. Take a wild guess.
Assuming that this question has an unwritten 'Elaborate' slapped onto the end of it, Dhaos doesn't actually consider Cress an enemy, especially not in Luceti: he admits in the Drama CDs that Cress is very much in the right and he in the wrong, and that he deserved his death. Dhaos's true enemy is... well, humanity in general, but he also spends a lot of time cursing his luck. XD Of course, the person on the very top of his To Kill list is Reisen, who not only lied to everyone and started this whole mess, but chopped off his best friend's arm before doing so.
Going back to Cress, do note that attacking Dhaos is still a very good way to get him not to like you. XD
15. What is the character's sexual orientation? Where does he fall on the Kinsey scale?
Literally every positive relationship Dhaos has is with a woman. Winona, Rondoline, Karion, Silverberg, the girls from the circus, Martel, even Jamir. Jamir. The ruler of the demons. I'm going to go out on a limb here and say he's heterosexual >__> But really, we don't know. He doesn't exactly like to talk about himself, and romantic relationships are right out. He does have a girlfriend, of course.
16. How does he feel about sex? How important is it to him?
Leeet's try this again. Dhaos is, of course, a prince, and as a prince has likely had the SEX SUCKS AND YOU SHOULD NEVER DO IT EVER 8D thing pounded into his head from a young age. So for him, it'd be something of a crime to bang anyone he isn't married to, and sometimes even then, and he'd rather show his affection in some other way. Of course, this doesn't mean that Dhaos NEVER has such urges, just that they don't come as easily as they might for others and even when they do, he's less likely to act on them.
17. What are his turn-ons? Turn-offs? Weird bedroom habits?
...How should I know? XD
Beliefs
1. Do you know your character's astrological (zodiac of choice) sign? How well does he fit type?
No one has any idea when Dhaos was born, which kinda goes with the whole 'not knowing his age' thing. I remember vaguely entertaining the idea of him being a Leo, but I can't remember why. Will go look up Leo traits and get back to that later.
...I actually made it Luceti canon that Dhaos no longer knows how old he is, due to time-traveling and calender differences. XD
2. Is this character religious, spiritual, both, or neither? How important are these elements in his life?
He obviously believes in some higher power, given his pre-final-boss speech. And when Norn orders him to stop being a huge dick in NDX, he teleports away without a word, so clearly he respects them though he later returns to try and murder her children behind her back lol, so not THAT much.
He doesn't mention them beyond screaming for their help at the end of ToP, however.
3. Does this character have a personal code of morals or ethics? If so, how did that begin? What would it take to compromise it?
Pregame Dhaos is the friendly, quiet type who dislikes fighting. He only fights to defend himself or others.
Afterwards... Demon King. Ack. That happened because of a perceived necessity-- if he didn't change, Derris-Kharlan would have gone the way of the dodo, and he had already given humanity a chance. He still has a conscience, though, as he gives up fighting Cress when he realizes that they're exactly the same.
Nowadays, in Luceti, Dhaos has no purpose and his morals have made a bit of a comeback: he sacrificed them to save Derris-Kharlan, and now that he's decided that that's impossible, he's trying to salvage what he can. He can't change the way he feels, though...
4. How does he regard beliefs that differ from his? Is he tolerant, intolerant, curious, indifferent?
At first he's tolerant, and a little curious, given his attitude towards Winona. But then Reisen happens and, well. Now having a different opinion is instant grounds for suspicion and distrust.
5. What prejudices does he hold? Are they irrational or does he have a good reason for them?
At first Dhaos apparently gets himself into trouble and arguments with Winona because he's the prince of Elusion and Aselia is mostly a planet of what he considers to be backwater hicks, but he shuts up when he realizes he's the one being stupid and fixes his view of things.
Now? Being human is a very good way to get Dhaos not to like you. Of course being constantly rejected and attacked by humans for stupid reasons is grounds for not liking them, but the feeling is less than rational in his case.
Children, by the way, are all nice people in Dhaos's eyes, even humans. Unless they march up to his doorstep and attack him, at which point they take their place next to the adults.
Daily Life
1. What is the character's financial situation? Is he rich, poor, comfortable, in debt?
...Prooooobaby the richest friggin' person on his planet. Not that he needs the money.
2. What is his social status? Has this changed over time, and if so, how has the change affected him?
Dhaos used to be the prince of Elusion-- still is-- but that means nothing on Aselia, or in Luceti. Apparently in KataReki it causes conflicts with Winona because he's used to being on top and she is... not. LOL. He's not quite as fond of asserting his authority as he presumably was on Derris-Kharlan, and thanks to Winona he doesn't have botched expectations.
3. Where does he live? House, apartment, trailer? Is his home his castle or just a place to crash? What condition is it in? Does he share it with others?
Pregame!Dhaos lives in a palace. Or with the traveling circus, or in that huge castle all alone with all 'dem demons. Take your pick.
Luceti's Dhaos lives in Community Housing Building 3, on the sixth floor. As of right now, he is the only person on that floor, and that's just how he likes it.
4. Besides the basic necessities, what does he spend his money on?
Luceti has no money, Aselia!Dhaos had no money, and back on Derris-Kharlan Dhaos in all probability never had to pay for anything. LOLOLOL. When he did have money on Aselia, it was presumably spent on basic necessities, as he lived with a traveling circus consisting entirely of orphans and himself. XD;
5. What does he do for a living? Is he good at it? Does he enjoy it, or would he rather be doing something else?
Dhaos is the prince of Elusion, and he would probably still do it even if all his privileges were taken from him.
6. What are his interests or hobbies? How does he spend his free time?
Stargazing is the only thing he does that could be considered a hobby, really. Though apparently if he's in the right mood you could probably get him interested in anything (KataReki examples of this include spellwork, crossbows, unicorns...).
7. What are his eating habits? Does he skip meals, eat out, drink alcohol, avoid certain foods?
There's an entire skit in NDX dedicated to how much effort it takes Rondoline to get Dhaos to eat something. LOLOLOL. So I'm guessing he doesn't really have to, like the Seraphim of Symphonia. I don't know, though, so I headcanon that he has to eat once in a while. He'll decline food if offered, but he will drink alcohol once in a while. You know how it is, royal character = drinks wine.
Associations
Which of the following do you associate with the character, or which is his favorite:
1. Color? I associate him with gold, for obvious reasons. I actually think his favorite might be red, though, just a feeling.
2. Smell? ...I don't know.
3. Time of day? ...Well, can't go stargazing during the day, so...
4. Season? By way of Grune thread, summer. XD;;
5. Book? Don't know.
6. Music? No idea. Yes, I know.
7. Place? I DUNNOOO. His bedroom back at home seems like a good guess XD; We'll just say Derris-Kharlan in general.
8. Substance? No idea again.
9. Plant? ...Giant trees?
10. Animal? I'm not sure he has any preference, but for me, baby boars will always remind me of Dhaos now XD; This is Angie's fault.